Amateur Golf: Mixed bag for the British

By Bill Meredith

12:01AM GMT 26 Nov 2002

There was just a touch of the curate's egg about Britain's amateur season. Two major titles went abroad with Charl Schwartzel, of South Africa, winning the Brabazon Trophy, and Alejandro Larrazabal taking the Amateur Championship back to Spain.

Another Spaniard, Carlos del Moral, conquered the home challenge in the English Boys' Under-18 Championship for the Carris Trophy at Beau Desert in the Midlands.

Perhaps the greatest disappointment, though, was England's seventh place in the Eisenhower Trophy when great things had been expected of the the three-man team of Gary Wolstenholme, Richard Walker and Jamie Elson in Kuala Lumpur.

Individually, though, there were some outstanding performances with Wolstenholme once again leading the way with victories in the Berkhamsted Trophy, the Hampshire Hog, the Lagonda Trophy, the Berkshire Trophy, the Midland Amateur and the South African Amateur.

Walker won the German Amateur, Zane Scotland captured the Spanish and Portguese Amateur titles, Eren Behcet the Turkish Amateur, James Heath the Greek Amateur and Elson the Mexican.

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England's younger players captured the World Junior Team event in Japan, where Matthew Richardson, of Pinner Hill, claimed the world individual crown. Richardson, who also won the McEvoy Trophy, and Daily Telegraph/Kelloggs Nutri-Grain junior champion Michael Skelton have exciting futures.

There were champagne celebrations at Royal St David's, where Wales won the Home Internationals for the first time in 70 years. Their success included an 8-7 victory over what was described by captain Peter McEvoy as the "strongest English side I have known."

With Stuart Manley sharing the Duncan Putter and Lee Harpin taking the international Sherry Cup, Wales had much to be proud of.

Richard Finch, of Hull, had a season to remember. After an amazing round of 61 in the Amateur Championship at Pyle & Kenfig, the lowest-ever score in the event, he went on to capture the English Amateur title at Walton Heath.

Finch then went on to win all his six matches as Yorkshire clinched the English County Championship at La Moye in Jersey.